Susquehanna University Team Wins Michael Smith Business Ethics Competition
By Ava Marini ’26
The 17 teams from colleges and universities throughout the country in Providence College’s Michael Smith Business Ethics Case Competition faced a tough challenge: recommend an ethical solution to teens’ growing addiction to social media. The winners, Margaret Bachman ’26, Jensen Duke ’25, Tatiana Perez ’25, and Ryan Ford ’26 of Susquehanna University, proposed three innovative options to address this growing problem.
The Providence College Ethics in Business Education Program hosts the Michael Smith Ethics Competition annually. In this contest, teams of undergraduate students from different schools examine a business ethics case for two weeks and then present their analysis and solution virtually to a judging panel of corporate and ethics professionals.
The first-place team receives a $2,400 prize and the second-place team receives a $1,200 prize.
The Susquehanna team’s first recommendations consisted of “the implementation of an AI-driven algorithm that filters harmful content from teens’ feeds and promotes creativity-enhancing material,” said Bachman. She added that the AI algorithm “would be supported through partnerships with companies to feature more creativity-inspired products and resources.”
Bachman describes their second recommendation as “the introduction of a comprehensive social media education curriculum for students in fifth, eighth, and 12th grades.” Each of the three grade levels listed would be provided with targeted education for that age group. She emphasizes that “at the fifth-grade level, students would gain a foundational understanding of social media and its functionality. In eighth grade, the focus would shift to the impact of social media on mental health, helping students recognize and manage its effects. By 12th grade, students would concentrate on building professional portfolios and online profiles to support their future academic and career aspirations.”
Their third recommendation, based on their personal experiences and research, includes “the creation of a digital screen time counter, modeled after a calorie tracker, to help students visualize their time spent on social media and encourage healthier, alternative activities,” Bachman said.
The team came together through their advisor, Eugene Cautillo, Ph.D., professor of management at Susquehanna University. “Competitions such as this, especially one focusing on a topic as important as ethics, really have a lasting impact on our business leaders of tomorrow. I am very proud of the SU team in that they were able to excel in all areas – connecting the dots with the materials to make sound business recommendations, presenting, and just coming together as a high-performing team. This group, as well as all of the teams that participated, accomplished something really special when they participated,” said Cautillo.
Not only was this an opportunity to present solutions to an ongoing issue, but the competition also provided each team member with their own personal takeaway.
“It was a great change to think deeply about real-world issues and grow both personally and professionally,” Perez said.
“This competition was a wonderful bonding experience with my peers, and an exciting competitive environment where we were able to showcase our research and presentation skills. I was grateful for the experience to connect with other schools and professionals, and also collaborate with my team,” said Ford.
“The competition was so much fun, went by super quick, and taught me that I can do anything I put my mind to with the help of my teammates. Overall, [what] I took away [is] the process I went through with my team to coming up with our solutions and putting a lot of dense information together into a short period of time,” said Duke.
“This competition was an amazing event on a really important topic. Knowing my experience on social media, and now having young nieces and nephews, it’s a scary thing [that] we need to understand and try to combat as soon as possible. This competition allows the conversation to be stated. Our team was a great group of people and getting the opportunity to become closer with them and use their unique knowledge and experience is an experience that needs to be treasured,” Bachman said.
The winners of the PC Business Ethics Competition last October, Reilly Shea ’27, Ally van Heyst ’27, Natalie Swierczynski ’27, and Maya Perchuk ’27, represented Providence College in the Michael Smith Business Ethics Competition, as well. Click this link to learn more about the PC Business competition in October and the roommate group that won: https://business.providence.edu/roommates-take-first-place-in-pc-business-ethics-case-competition-2024/.
